Jesus’ Resurrection: Christians Divided in Belief

The Resurrection of Christ, Rubens, Antwerp (1611-12)

Was the resurrection of Jesus a physical event or more like the dramatic yet not uncommon experiences people report about seeing their loved ones who have died?

The traditional view is of course that God raised Jesus from the dead and Jesus had a transformed body. Others have pointed to scriptures suggesting the post-Easter Jesus appeared (e.g., as a light and a voice to the Apostle Paul in Acts 9). Some did not recognise Jesus (e.g., the Emmaus road couple in Luke 24).

In this post, I will report some data related to contemporary beliefs about Jesus' resurrection.

2023

A UK survey summarised by ICN indicated 57% of Britons believe in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

30% believed in a bodily resurrection

27% believed in a resurrection of spirit

44% believed "your spirit lives on after death"

9% believed in a physical resurrection

2022 Ligonier and LifeWay study "The State of Theology"

This survey of Americans asks about theological issues including the Bible and the nature of God. One trend since 2014 is an increase in the belief that the Bible is not literally true from 41% in 2014 to 53% in 2022. However, only 25% strongly agreed with the statement. Also of relevance to this page is the low percentage of belief in the accuracy of the Bible--only 33% strongly agreed "The Bible is 100% accurate in all that it teaches."

47% strongly agreed in a "physical (bodily) resurrection" of Jesus

31% strongly agreed "Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God."

April 2022

The Christian Post reported the results of a poll about the influence of Easter and Passover in a sample of likely US voters. Following is a quote:

According to the survey, 72.6% of respondents said they believe the “moral lessons found in the holidays of Easter and Passover” are either “somewhat important” or “very important” to guaranteeing a strong U.S. in the future.

In June 2022, Gallup posted results of their ongoing American survey of belief in God. The downward trend continues but is still high at 81%

2021, March 26 post by Lifeway Research

This was a survey of American adults

66% believed "biblical accounts of the physical resurrection of Jesus are completely accurate."

20% disagreed

14% were not sure

Note the following quote about the younger generation.

One group that is more likely to deny the resurrection is the next generation. A majority of 18- to 34-year-olds (59%) say they don’t believe the biblical accounts of Jesus bodily resurrection.

Survey Link

Later in 2021, 23 November, Pew posted the results of a related survey on the afterlife beliefs of Americans.

73% believe in Heaven and 62% believe in Hell.

26% do not believe in either heaven or hell.

17% do not believe in any afterlife.

2017 BBC survey results

17% of all respondents believe in the word-for-word biblical version of the resurrection.

31% of Christians believe in the word-for-word biblical version of the resurrection.

50% of all respondents did not believe in the resurrection

46 % of all respondents believe in life after death

Survey link

2016 Rasmussen Survey 24 March

“Three Quarters of Americans Believe Jesus Rose From the Dead”

Rasmussen link

2013 Harris Poll

“…65 percent say they believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, down from 70 percent."

Harris Poll

2010 Barna survey 15 March

“Those who identify Easter explicitly as a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus were most likely to be evangelicals (73%), large church attenders (60%), born again Christians (55%), active churchgoers (54%), upscale adults (54%), and Protestants (51%).”

Barna link

2010 Rasmussen Survey

“A 2010 Rasmussen Reports survey found that 78 percent of Americans believe Christ was raised from the dead, 10 percent don't believe it and 11 percent aren't sure.” (TulsaWorld story)

2009 Harris Poll

“A 2009 Harris poll put belief in the Resurrection at 70 percent, down 10 points since 2003.” (TulsaWorld story)

2009 Australian Survey

“As part of the Australian Survey of Social Attitudes in 2009, some 1718 people across Australian communities were asked whether they believed that Jesus' resurrection was an actual historical event. The results indicate that around a third do not believe, a third are uncertain and a third do believe it was an actual event in history. There is slight variation between these groups, with non believers (35%) and the non- committal (34%) slightly outnumbering those who believe (31%).” Survey link

2006 Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll

“Only 36 percent of the 1,007 adults interviewed a month ago at Ohio University said "yes" to the question: "Do you believe that, after you die, your physical body will be resurrected someday?" Fifty-four percent said they do not believe and 10 percent were undecided.”

StarTribune link to report

My Ad

Christians hold diverse beliefs. For diverse views on sexuality and morality, please consider purchasing:

A House Divided: Sexuality, Morality, and Christian Cultures

AMAZON worldwide and many other booksellers. Thank you.